This is an archives post from my old blog and the old DeviantArt Days.
A brief history to put things in perspective
There are certain events starting to unfold (again) over at DeviantArt. Cries of censorship have started to be heard as dissatisfaction grows.
Ordinary users are being banned by administration...whether it be because of strict adherence to policy or abuse of personal power, well, it depends on how you look at things.
I understand about "abusing power". I did it myself, years ago, when I started working my first, full-time job. It's not something I like to think about, but it is a part of my history, my life, so I offer to share some memories here, in the hopes of getting folks to understand why I feel some of the admins are using the latter, and not the former, of my previous statement.
I was 22, working my first, full-time job, in the university library where I'd worked for four years as a part-timer. I'd been lucky enough to get a job at the circulation desk, the 'front lines' of the biggest library on campus, and it was an experience.
There's something one must understand about this library: There was a seperate departments for pretty much everything. Most of the departments were reference-oriented, and their job was to say "yes", to help patrons find the information, get the book, the article, whatever. They were there to help.
Circulation was there to help as well, but more often than not, we had to say "no".
No, you can't borrow that book because you're not a student here.
No, you can't register for classes because you owe $250 in fines, and we've put a hold against your account
No, you can't get change to feed the meter outside and I don't care if the cops are showing up to tow your car.
You might think it's funny to see David Spade doing those "no" commercials, but that was something I did. A lot.
In the beginning, I was nice. I tried to help out as many as I could, but that lasted for, oh, I think, a week.
Given the amount of people we had to deal with...this was a big library on a BIG campus...it was non-stop for awhile, especially in the beginning of the term. People wanting materials for course reserve made available NOW (despite the fact we had a three-week backlog of stuff to get out), people wanting to borrow a book but they didn't have their ID with them...
They wanted something from me, but didn't want to respect me in my position. So I made sure they didn't get a damn thing.
You want this now? I'm sorry, no.
You owe $50 in fines? You've gotta pay it all before you can borrow a book.
You don't like it? Tough.
It wasn't long, tho, before I had my first attempted theft. Someone decided they didn't want to pay for a library card (and at $100 a year, I couldn't blame them), and didn't want to wait the couple of days it would've taken to send it via interlibrary loan to the local public library (we had a great agreement with the public libraries, and it would've been a snap for him to do it), and tried to walk out through the tattletape sensors.
The alarm went off, I called the person back over, and found they had one of our books. A quick call to the campus police later, and they were leading the person off in handcuffs.
I had power, and damn if it didn't feel good.
For the next four years, I had a shitty job, but I had power, and damn if I didn't use that power.
It wasn't until one day, one user called on the phone. I forget her exact question, but she said that someone at the library wouldn't let her do something, even though it was in policy to do so. She referred to him as the "Return Desk Nazi", and when she described him...really, she described me.
When I told her that she'd described me, she was stunned. I looked on that as a proud moment, and now, years later, I look back on that as my darkest moment.
Shortly after that, when telling a friend about what had happened, he told me I was taking things too personally, too seriously. It was just a job. Life is too short to be such an overblown asshole about things.
I'd long respected his opinion, and it got me thinking...was having the power, was abusing the power, really worth it?
It didn't happen overnight, but slowly, I'd come to realize what an asshole I really was. I started to change, to take things less seriously, to cut people some slack.
The Golden Rule really does work: Do unto others as you've have them do unto you.
Being an asshole, abusing your power, it's all well and good for the short term. In reality...all you're doing is eating away at your own soul.
It isn't worth it.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Whose Reality is it Anyway?
An archived post from my old blog.
What do these names have in common:
* Fred Durst
* Hulk Hogan
* Brittney Spears
* Jose Canseco
Besides being washed-up has beens, they're also making their own reality shows.
And thus begins our rant.
I don't know about you, but I was under the impression that so-called "reality television" was on the way out. Combine viewer apathy with shows like Lost, CSI and Desperate Housewives, reality shows seemed to be on the decline here in the US.
In a recent "Keep or Cancel" poll run by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , the top 10 "cancel" shows were all reality television, and all but two of the "keep" shows were either dramas or comedies. (Granted, the other two "keep" shows were 60 Minutes and Monday Night Football.)
In fact, in the latest Neilsen Ratings (another joke, but I'll save for another rant), out of the top ten shows last week, only three of the ten were "reality" shows.
Yet, still, reality television is a blight on the landscape of programming. Does this surprise me? Not really. Given that there are so many cable channels (honestly, do we need an all-golf channel, or a channel dedicated to re-running soap operas from earlier in the day?), they'll have to resort to low-cost, low-overhead programming to fill a day's schedule.
What bothers me most is when "established" cable networks start putting reality shows that are outside their niche.
Example: VH1. For some reason, a channel that was originally designed to be an alternative to MTV, reaching a more "mature" audience, has decided to focus a lot more on these "reality" shows, including one called "The Surreal Life". (A show, I might add, that was a flop on a broadcast network, so they decided to throw it onto cable.)
Out of sheer boredom the other night (and tired of watching yet another Pirates loss), I watched a marathon of the latest season of this train wreck in slow motion. The concept is simple: Take seven has-been, washed up actors and/or publicity whores, throw them into a mansion, and film them as they go through an ordinary day.
Of course, the ordinary day starts when a "paper" arrives with something for them to do during the day, like horseback riding, filming a movie, pitching a new show to the network...
Yeah, right. These are things that ordinary people do every day.
There is no such thing as "reality television". If these shows were "real" they'd be so dull and boring, no one would want to watch them. Advertisers would pay for commercial airtime on "watching paint dry" shows, before they'd put their money in "reality television". You'd get far more excitement watching paint dry than if you'd have to watch someone going through their real day.
And then there's the concept of reality home-improvement shows. Yeah, I watch them on occasion, but these, too, are unlikely real.
Producers look for tension among crews working on the project. If there's none there, they'll make the tension themselves. Things said out of context, rearranged...doesn't matter if its true or not, as long as it makes for good drama.
Even the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy/Girl. Do you really think they do all that stuff in one day? Nope. Try three days. You really believe Thom can remodel one house, by himself, that quickly? Guess again, girlfriend.
And then there's Survivor, one of the granddaddies of reality television. They hold tryouts from all across the country, to get people to try out for the big prize. But, guess what? Some of the folks on that show didn't have to "try out". They're selected by the producers because for their looks. After all, do you really want to watch ugly people try and survive on their own? Nope...only beautiful people have survival skills.
However, given everything that's been said about reality television, its secrets laid, folks will probably still watch. Why? I have no answers to that one...
Part of it might have to do with living vicariously through others. They either want to see them succeed or fail, depending on whomever they're watching. Or maybe they've just lost the remote control and are too lazy to get up and change the channel.
All I know is that as long as you don't change the channel...or turn the damn thing off every now and then...they'll keep shoving the same shit down our throats.
Just remember those names I mentioned above.
* Fred Durst
* Hulk Hogan
* Brittney Spears
* Jose Canseco
They'll be coming to a television near you soon enough...
What do these names have in common:
* Fred Durst
* Hulk Hogan
* Brittney Spears
* Jose Canseco
Besides being washed-up has beens, they're also making their own reality shows.
And thus begins our rant.
I don't know about you, but I was under the impression that so-called "reality television" was on the way out. Combine viewer apathy with shows like Lost, CSI and Desperate Housewives, reality shows seemed to be on the decline here in the US.
In a recent "Keep or Cancel" poll run by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , the top 10 "cancel" shows were all reality television, and all but two of the "keep" shows were either dramas or comedies. (Granted, the other two "keep" shows were 60 Minutes and Monday Night Football.)
In fact, in the latest Neilsen Ratings (another joke, but I'll save for another rant), out of the top ten shows last week, only three of the ten were "reality" shows.
Yet, still, reality television is a blight on the landscape of programming. Does this surprise me? Not really. Given that there are so many cable channels (honestly, do we need an all-golf channel, or a channel dedicated to re-running soap operas from earlier in the day?), they'll have to resort to low-cost, low-overhead programming to fill a day's schedule.
What bothers me most is when "established" cable networks start putting reality shows that are outside their niche.
Example: VH1. For some reason, a channel that was originally designed to be an alternative to MTV, reaching a more "mature" audience, has decided to focus a lot more on these "reality" shows, including one called "The Surreal Life". (A show, I might add, that was a flop on a broadcast network, so they decided to throw it onto cable.)
Out of sheer boredom the other night (and tired of watching yet another Pirates loss), I watched a marathon of the latest season of this train wreck in slow motion. The concept is simple: Take seven has-been, washed up actors and/or publicity whores, throw them into a mansion, and film them as they go through an ordinary day.
Of course, the ordinary day starts when a "paper" arrives with something for them to do during the day, like horseback riding, filming a movie, pitching a new show to the network...
Yeah, right. These are things that ordinary people do every day.
There is no such thing as "reality television". If these shows were "real" they'd be so dull and boring, no one would want to watch them. Advertisers would pay for commercial airtime on "watching paint dry" shows, before they'd put their money in "reality television". You'd get far more excitement watching paint dry than if you'd have to watch someone going through their real day.
And then there's the concept of reality home-improvement shows. Yeah, I watch them on occasion, but these, too, are unlikely real.
Producers look for tension among crews working on the project. If there's none there, they'll make the tension themselves. Things said out of context, rearranged...doesn't matter if its true or not, as long as it makes for good drama.
Even the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy/Girl. Do you really think they do all that stuff in one day? Nope. Try three days. You really believe Thom can remodel one house, by himself, that quickly? Guess again, girlfriend.
And then there's Survivor, one of the granddaddies of reality television. They hold tryouts from all across the country, to get people to try out for the big prize. But, guess what? Some of the folks on that show didn't have to "try out". They're selected by the producers because for their looks. After all, do you really want to watch ugly people try and survive on their own? Nope...only beautiful people have survival skills.
However, given everything that's been said about reality television, its secrets laid, folks will probably still watch. Why? I have no answers to that one...
Part of it might have to do with living vicariously through others. They either want to see them succeed or fail, depending on whomever they're watching. Or maybe they've just lost the remote control and are too lazy to get up and change the channel.
All I know is that as long as you don't change the channel...or turn the damn thing off every now and then...they'll keep shoving the same shit down our throats.
Just remember those names I mentioned above.
* Fred Durst
* Hulk Hogan
* Brittney Spears
* Jose Canseco
They'll be coming to a television near you soon enough...
Sunday, December 19, 2004
The Soundtrack of a life, part one.
This is an archived post from my old blog.
Liner notes to The Soundtrack of a Life, Part One
The following is part one of something I'd written (or at least, started to write) some four-plus years ago. I'd compiled a CD (all tracks I own legally, or at least, did at the time) of songs that had some importance to me, and decided to create a liner for the disc with my reasons for including them.
For whatever reason (boredom, ADD, surfing for smut, etc.) I never finished the project.
While going through the hard drive the other day, I found the file, like someone finding a time capsule they'd buried in the backyard as a kid. It was an interesting read (for me, anyway), and I'm just posting it here, not only for posterity, but just in case someone wants to try and understand me better.
So read on, and enjoy. Here's part one. Part two will be posted...sometime.
I’ve always found, whenever I’ve had to write just about anything in my life, the very first sentence is the most difficult to write. The basic concept, the idea more than anything, of what I want to write about, I know in my head and my heart. It’s just those first few words, that opening paragraph, that are impossible to produce.
I suppose it’s something akin to labor, but since I have no cervix for a child to pass through, I can’t honestly make the comparison.
So, now that I’ve composed the opening line and made the first corny joke, I can start with these liner notes. This album is simply entitled “33: The Soundtrack of a Life”. The songs on this album hold some significance to me, whether it be a line, melody or whatever.
I suppose, if you wanted to read deeply into this album, it starts out with quieter, more somber tones and songs, and breaks into a more joyous, upbeat ending, showing the potential for the future and the possibility of a better tomorrow. Personally, I think that’s bullshit, and I should know: If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s spouting bullshit.
The songs on this album are put in this order because they sound like they belong together, and that’s whats important. Music, more than anything I believe, has been very important in my life, perhaps the most important part. Music defines us, shapes us, and shows who we are to the rest of the world.
Of course, if this were true, I feel sorry for the next generation coming into their own now. While I like some of the artists recording today, some of the concepts are far darker than anything we’ve encountered before. Artists like Marilyn Manson and Eminem are showing us the darker side of our world, and while that might not be a bad thing, I kinda worry about those who are listening to it.
It reminds me of an old Non Sequitor cartoon I have. A couple in the fifties are listening to a radio, when she calls out to him and says “Slash, listen! They’re playing our rap!”
But I digress.
Since these are liner notes, I figure you might like to know what’s gone into the decision as to what gets played, why I put song A before song B.
It starts out with John Denver’s Whispering Jesse. When I first created Onestar: 30 Years (a tape I did on my 30th birthday that was the predecessor to this CD), I opened the CD with Queen’s These Are the Days of Our Lives. I changed it to this song because I’ve found this to me introspective. The opening verse, “I often have wondered/In deep contemplation/It seems that the mind runs wild/when you’re all alone/The Way that it could be/The way that it should be…”, sums up so well what I’ve thought about over the past 33 years. I like being introspective, sometimes. I need to search inside me for answers to questions I never thought of.
I’ve spent a lot of time in my mind, thinking about what could…and what should…have been. Given everything, tho, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Well, maybe I’d make sure I had the winning lottery numbers to a 65 Million dollar jackpot, but that’s a trifling little thing.
Annie Lennox’s No More I Love You's, well, there was a point in my life when I got tired of trying to find someone. I’d been dumped more times that I care to admit, and I didn’t want to have to play the game anymore. The title seemed to fit so well.
If there was ever one song that summed up my life perfectly, it’s Jackson Browne’s The Pretender. This is my life, put to music. Pure and Simple. Nothing more need be said.
Willie Nelson sings perhaps the defining version of Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. Now, I do have a soft spot for Country Music (Please don’t tell anyone). This song has meant many things to me, but more recently, I think it’s reflected the hearts I’ve broken. Yah, me, the heartbreaker. I never meant to do it, but it’s happened, and it’s something I’ve regretted, and it’s also a pain I will have to deal with for the rest of my life. I can only hope that she’ll forgive me someday…I never meant to hurt her so.
Holding Back the Years. Now, Simply Red summed up some interesting points in this song. “I’ve wasted all my tears/wasted all those years”. There is a part of me that can relate to this, although I’ve never felt my life has been wasted, but rather, they do say that they’ll keep “holding on”, something I can understand quite well. I’ll keep holding on to many things, one of them being hope. Remember, Faith Prevails.
End of Part One
Liner notes to The Soundtrack of a Life, Part One
The following is part one of something I'd written (or at least, started to write) some four-plus years ago. I'd compiled a CD (all tracks I own legally, or at least, did at the time) of songs that had some importance to me, and decided to create a liner for the disc with my reasons for including them.
For whatever reason (boredom, ADD, surfing for smut, etc.) I never finished the project.
While going through the hard drive the other day, I found the file, like someone finding a time capsule they'd buried in the backyard as a kid. It was an interesting read (for me, anyway), and I'm just posting it here, not only for posterity, but just in case someone wants to try and understand me better.
So read on, and enjoy. Here's part one. Part two will be posted...sometime.
I’ve always found, whenever I’ve had to write just about anything in my life, the very first sentence is the most difficult to write. The basic concept, the idea more than anything, of what I want to write about, I know in my head and my heart. It’s just those first few words, that opening paragraph, that are impossible to produce.
I suppose it’s something akin to labor, but since I have no cervix for a child to pass through, I can’t honestly make the comparison.
So, now that I’ve composed the opening line and made the first corny joke, I can start with these liner notes. This album is simply entitled “33: The Soundtrack of a Life”. The songs on this album hold some significance to me, whether it be a line, melody or whatever.
I suppose, if you wanted to read deeply into this album, it starts out with quieter, more somber tones and songs, and breaks into a more joyous, upbeat ending, showing the potential for the future and the possibility of a better tomorrow. Personally, I think that’s bullshit, and I should know: If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s spouting bullshit.
The songs on this album are put in this order because they sound like they belong together, and that’s whats important. Music, more than anything I believe, has been very important in my life, perhaps the most important part. Music defines us, shapes us, and shows who we are to the rest of the world.
Of course, if this were true, I feel sorry for the next generation coming into their own now. While I like some of the artists recording today, some of the concepts are far darker than anything we’ve encountered before. Artists like Marilyn Manson and Eminem are showing us the darker side of our world, and while that might not be a bad thing, I kinda worry about those who are listening to it.
It reminds me of an old Non Sequitor cartoon I have. A couple in the fifties are listening to a radio, when she calls out to him and says “Slash, listen! They’re playing our rap!”
But I digress.
Since these are liner notes, I figure you might like to know what’s gone into the decision as to what gets played, why I put song A before song B.
It starts out with John Denver’s Whispering Jesse. When I first created Onestar: 30 Years (a tape I did on my 30th birthday that was the predecessor to this CD), I opened the CD with Queen’s These Are the Days of Our Lives. I changed it to this song because I’ve found this to me introspective. The opening verse, “I often have wondered/In deep contemplation/It seems that the mind runs wild/when you’re all alone/The Way that it could be/The way that it should be…”, sums up so well what I’ve thought about over the past 33 years. I like being introspective, sometimes. I need to search inside me for answers to questions I never thought of.
I’ve spent a lot of time in my mind, thinking about what could…and what should…have been. Given everything, tho, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Well, maybe I’d make sure I had the winning lottery numbers to a 65 Million dollar jackpot, but that’s a trifling little thing.
Annie Lennox’s No More I Love You's, well, there was a point in my life when I got tired of trying to find someone. I’d been dumped more times that I care to admit, and I didn’t want to have to play the game anymore. The title seemed to fit so well.
If there was ever one song that summed up my life perfectly, it’s Jackson Browne’s The Pretender. This is my life, put to music. Pure and Simple. Nothing more need be said.
Willie Nelson sings perhaps the defining version of Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. Now, I do have a soft spot for Country Music (Please don’t tell anyone). This song has meant many things to me, but more recently, I think it’s reflected the hearts I’ve broken. Yah, me, the heartbreaker. I never meant to do it, but it’s happened, and it’s something I’ve regretted, and it’s also a pain I will have to deal with for the rest of my life. I can only hope that she’ll forgive me someday…I never meant to hurt her so.
Holding Back the Years. Now, Simply Red summed up some interesting points in this song. “I’ve wasted all my tears/wasted all those years”. There is a part of me that can relate to this, although I’ve never felt my life has been wasted, but rather, they do say that they’ll keep “holding on”, something I can understand quite well. I’ll keep holding on to many things, one of them being hope. Remember, Faith Prevails.
End of Part One
Thursday, December 18, 2003
The Parking Lot Blues: Why do people annoy me so?
There are certain traditions in the holiday season that we all know, love, and celebrate every year.
Whether it be gathering around the table for a feast, watching holiday specials on the TV, or giving gifts until you're deep in credit card debt, we all know certain things happen this time of the year.
I, for one, partook in one of the newer holiday traditions just last night. I got into a fight with a guy at the supermarket parking lot.
Parking lots, and the people and cars that park in them, are a constant annoyance of mine. From the inability to park a car between two perfectly straight lines to improper use of handicapped parking spaces, it's amazing I'm willing to venture forth to a lot at all.
Humans, as a breed, are complete and insensitive idiots when it comes to what they do in parking lots.
First, the facts: I am authorized to park in a handicapped space. Mind you, while I may be in decent physical condition (I could lose a pound or 20, I know), the handicapped permit is for my mother.
She has trouble walking thanks to Diabetic Neuropathy in her feet and Macular Degeneration has taken part of her vision. Between that and the aches and pains that inevitably develop when you reach 78, her doctor signed off on the form that granted her a handicapped permit.
Mind you, I don't take advantage of the permit when I'm alone. But when we go shopping, it does give us a chance to park nearer to the door, so she can just go inside, sit on the bench, and watch folks go past. It's a chance for her to get out of the house, something that doesn't happen too too often these days.
Naturally, this time of year, it's difficult enough to find parking at the store anyway. Thankfully, the permit gives us a decent chance at finding one of those close spots.
However, the remainder of humanity believes that handicapped parking spaces are shopping cart return spaces.
After pulling halfway into the parking space, I had to get out of the car and move one of the carts that some kind soul decided to leave right in my way. Get back in the car, pull in, and straighten it out (so I, at least, will be centered between the lines).
I shut the car off and am getting out to go around the other side and help my mother out when this...gentleman...decided to park his shopping cart in the handicapped space right in front of me.
"Handicapped spaces aren't cart returns, ya know," I tell him in my most polite-yet still annoyed-voice.
He merely smiles and starts to walk away.
"Smile all you want, but a handicapped space still isn't a cart return," I yell out as he goes.
He turns and looks back at me. "You've got two good legs, return it yourself!" was his reply.
"I've got two good legs, but she doesn't, you insensitive jackass!" Unfortunately, he decided to keep walking.
It amazes me to no end the attitude some folks take. Would it kill you to walk an extra twenty feet to return your shopping cart inside the store?
Let's take a couple things into consideration here:
* There are places set aside in nearly every aisle to return your cart.
* No one wants their car ding-ed by a shopping cart.
* If you're close enough to the door, why not return it to the store itself?
These are fairly simple ideas, people.
Think before you act for a change.
Whether it be gathering around the table for a feast, watching holiday specials on the TV, or giving gifts until you're deep in credit card debt, we all know certain things happen this time of the year.
I, for one, partook in one of the newer holiday traditions just last night. I got into a fight with a guy at the supermarket parking lot.
Parking lots, and the people and cars that park in them, are a constant annoyance of mine. From the inability to park a car between two perfectly straight lines to improper use of handicapped parking spaces, it's amazing I'm willing to venture forth to a lot at all.
Humans, as a breed, are complete and insensitive idiots when it comes to what they do in parking lots.
First, the facts: I am authorized to park in a handicapped space. Mind you, while I may be in decent physical condition (I could lose a pound or 20, I know), the handicapped permit is for my mother.
She has trouble walking thanks to Diabetic Neuropathy in her feet and Macular Degeneration has taken part of her vision. Between that and the aches and pains that inevitably develop when you reach 78, her doctor signed off on the form that granted her a handicapped permit.
Mind you, I don't take advantage of the permit when I'm alone. But when we go shopping, it does give us a chance to park nearer to the door, so she can just go inside, sit on the bench, and watch folks go past. It's a chance for her to get out of the house, something that doesn't happen too too often these days.
Naturally, this time of year, it's difficult enough to find parking at the store anyway. Thankfully, the permit gives us a decent chance at finding one of those close spots.
However, the remainder of humanity believes that handicapped parking spaces are shopping cart return spaces.
After pulling halfway into the parking space, I had to get out of the car and move one of the carts that some kind soul decided to leave right in my way. Get back in the car, pull in, and straighten it out (so I, at least, will be centered between the lines).
I shut the car off and am getting out to go around the other side and help my mother out when this...gentleman...decided to park his shopping cart in the handicapped space right in front of me.
"Handicapped spaces aren't cart returns, ya know," I tell him in my most polite-yet still annoyed-voice.
He merely smiles and starts to walk away.
"Smile all you want, but a handicapped space still isn't a cart return," I yell out as he goes.
He turns and looks back at me. "You've got two good legs, return it yourself!" was his reply.
"I've got two good legs, but she doesn't, you insensitive jackass!" Unfortunately, he decided to keep walking.
It amazes me to no end the attitude some folks take. Would it kill you to walk an extra twenty feet to return your shopping cart inside the store?
Let's take a couple things into consideration here:
* There are places set aside in nearly every aisle to return your cart.
* No one wants their car ding-ed by a shopping cart.
* If you're close enough to the door, why not return it to the store itself?
These are fairly simple ideas, people.
Think before you act for a change.
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
I only call 'em "records".
Originally posted at my old blog. Moved here for archives sake. I've moved a few of these over here. They're dated, but they're still me...
With much thanks and love to my editor for making suggestions.
Music is as essential to my existence as air, food and water.
Today, we pay our final respects to MP3.com
I've got a healthy CD collection at home. Last time I checked, there's close to 300 CDs...with everything from Classical to Pop to Jazz (lots of Jazz), with Country, Blues and a little Hip-Hop thrown in for good measure.
The weekends are constantly filled with music in my home. First thing I do in the morning - even before I'm completely awake - , I fill the CD changer and just let the music fill the house. You could hear anything from Sinatra and the Rat Pack to Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash to Boney James and Rick Braun.
One thing that I love to do is go through record stores...and yeah, I'm old enough to remember records, those wonderful pieces of pressed petroleum. But I admit, I love CD's more than records. They're transportable, they can store more music, and they're shiny too.
But to me, they sound better than MP3's, and that's the crux of this rant.
Recently while browsing through one such nationwide chain store that sells said CDs, a clerk came up to me and asked if I downloaded MP3s. Yes, I have downloaded in the past my fair share of MP3s, but I told him I didn't. I preferred CDs, which sound better.
I do still download the occasional MP3s. It was just easier to tell him this because I had no desire to hear about the latest "MP3 Download Service".
There are times when there's a "hit" song by an artist I normally wouldn't buy, but the tune is catchy, and I'd like a copy of it. (These are rare today, given the poor quality of new artists out there.) More often than not, I'm searching for old songs that I can't find anywhere else, such as John Rowles' "Cheryl Moana Marie" or Tony Harris' "I'll Forever Love You" - songs which few people my age have probably ever heard of.
Recently, Apple has released iTunes for Windows (previously only available for Mac). I did download and install it on my test machine at work However, I doubt I'll use it to purchase my music. The compressed MP3 file just doesn't sound as good to my untrained ear as a CD or it's vinyl predecessor.
iTunes and other of that ilk (Napster 2.0, Microsoft's forthcoming, unnamed service, etc.) are yet another sign of the instant gratification and dumbing down of the world...where we're willing to sacrifice quality for speed.
See, when you "rip" a track from a CD and convert it over to an MP3, you're losing a lot of the original song. Some folks will tell you that it sounds just as good as the original, but it doesn't. Even with the best compression out there, you can't take a 30MB original WAV file and turn it into a 3MB MP3 without losing something.
It's not to say that MP3's didn't have their uses. Suppose you're looking for something new, someone who hasn't made it onto the radio because the corporate suits who control radio don't believe they can make a profit from them - they're not packagable or don't have a "look" that can sell merchandise.
What was the easiest way to find new music like that? The Internet. Download a MP3 of someone new, take a listen, see what you think, and then buy their CD. It's a win-win situation: You find someone new you like and the artist wins because his or her music is getting discovered.
But those new artists, those undiscovered gems, have lost their home. Perhaps the last good place to find these artists, MP3.com, is about to disappear. They've been bought out by CNet, and they plan to turn what was once a wonderful clearinghouse into yet another iTunes/Napster clone. Today, December 2nd, is the last day you'll be able to download music from them.
All that music - all those artists who quite possibly deserve to be heard - will be lost to us. Doesn't matter if they're good or they suck. Some corporation has decided that they don't want us to hear them, so the powers-that-be will delete it, depriving us from ever knowing there might be something better out there.
As for me? You can still find me cruising the record store, trying to find something different, something interesting, some undiscovered treasure waiting to be listened to and enjoyed the way it was meant to be...not compressed down to 128k.
With much thanks and love to my editor for making suggestions.
Music is as essential to my existence as air, food and water.
Today, we pay our final respects to MP3.com
I've got a healthy CD collection at home. Last time I checked, there's close to 300 CDs...with everything from Classical to Pop to Jazz (lots of Jazz), with Country, Blues and a little Hip-Hop thrown in for good measure.
The weekends are constantly filled with music in my home. First thing I do in the morning - even before I'm completely awake - , I fill the CD changer and just let the music fill the house. You could hear anything from Sinatra and the Rat Pack to Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash to Boney James and Rick Braun.
One thing that I love to do is go through record stores...and yeah, I'm old enough to remember records, those wonderful pieces of pressed petroleum. But I admit, I love CD's more than records. They're transportable, they can store more music, and they're shiny too.
But to me, they sound better than MP3's, and that's the crux of this rant.
Recently while browsing through one such nationwide chain store that sells said CDs, a clerk came up to me and asked if I downloaded MP3s. Yes, I have downloaded in the past my fair share of MP3s, but I told him I didn't. I preferred CDs, which sound better.
I do still download the occasional MP3s. It was just easier to tell him this because I had no desire to hear about the latest "MP3 Download Service".
There are times when there's a "hit" song by an artist I normally wouldn't buy, but the tune is catchy, and I'd like a copy of it. (These are rare today, given the poor quality of new artists out there.) More often than not, I'm searching for old songs that I can't find anywhere else, such as John Rowles' "Cheryl Moana Marie" or Tony Harris' "I'll Forever Love You" - songs which few people my age have probably ever heard of.
Recently, Apple has released iTunes for Windows (previously only available for Mac). I did download and install it on my test machine at work However, I doubt I'll use it to purchase my music. The compressed MP3 file just doesn't sound as good to my untrained ear as a CD or it's vinyl predecessor.
iTunes and other of that ilk (Napster 2.0, Microsoft's forthcoming, unnamed service, etc.) are yet another sign of the instant gratification and dumbing down of the world...where we're willing to sacrifice quality for speed.
See, when you "rip" a track from a CD and convert it over to an MP3, you're losing a lot of the original song. Some folks will tell you that it sounds just as good as the original, but it doesn't. Even with the best compression out there, you can't take a 30MB original WAV file and turn it into a 3MB MP3 without losing something.
It's not to say that MP3's didn't have their uses. Suppose you're looking for something new, someone who hasn't made it onto the radio because the corporate suits who control radio don't believe they can make a profit from them - they're not packagable or don't have a "look" that can sell merchandise.
What was the easiest way to find new music like that? The Internet. Download a MP3 of someone new, take a listen, see what you think, and then buy their CD. It's a win-win situation: You find someone new you like and the artist wins because his or her music is getting discovered.
But those new artists, those undiscovered gems, have lost their home. Perhaps the last good place to find these artists, MP3.com, is about to disappear. They've been bought out by CNet, and they plan to turn what was once a wonderful clearinghouse into yet another iTunes/Napster clone. Today, December 2nd, is the last day you'll be able to download music from them.
All that music - all those artists who quite possibly deserve to be heard - will be lost to us. Doesn't matter if they're good or they suck. Some corporation has decided that they don't want us to hear them, so the powers-that-be will delete it, depriving us from ever knowing there might be something better out there.
As for me? You can still find me cruising the record store, trying to find something different, something interesting, some undiscovered treasure waiting to be listened to and enjoyed the way it was meant to be...not compressed down to 128k.
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